Tor

Tor is an encrypted anonymising network that makes it harder to intercept internet communications, or see where communications are coming from or going to.

In order to use the WikiLeaks public submission system as detailed above you can download the Tor Browser Bundle, which is a Firefox-like browser available for Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux and pre-configured to connect using the anonymising system Tor.

Tails

If you are at high risk and you have the capacity to do so, you can also access the submission system through a secure operating system called Tails. Tails is an operating system launched from a USB stick or a DVD that aim to leaves no traces when the computer is shut down after use and automatically routes your internet traffic through Tor. Tails will require you to have either a USB stick or a DVD at least 4GB big and a laptop or desktop computer.

Tips

Our submission system works hard to preserve your anonymity, but we recommend you also take some of your own precautions. Please review these basic guidelines.

1. Contact us if you have specific problems

If you have a very large submission, or a submission with a complex format, or are a high-risk source, please contact us. In our experience it is always possible to find a custom solution for even the most seemingly difficult situations.

2. What computer to use

If the computer you are uploading from could subsequently be audited in an investigation, consider using a computer that is not easily tied to you. Technical users can also use Tails to help ensure you do not leave any records of your submission on the computer.

3. Do not talk about your submission to others

If you have any issues talk to WikiLeaks. We are the global experts in source protection – it is a complex field. Even those who mean well often do not have the experience or expertise to advise properly. This includes other media organisations.

After

1. Do not talk about your submission to others

If you have any issues talk to WikiLeaks. We are the global experts in source protection – it is a complex field. Even those who mean well often do not have the experience or expertise to advise properly. This includes other media organisations.

2. Act normal

If you are a high-risk source, avoid saying anything or doing anything after submitting which might promote suspicion. In particular, you should try to stick to your normal routine and behaviour.

3. Remove traces of your submission

If you are a high-risk source and the computer you prepared your submission on, or uploaded it from, could subsequently be audited in an investigation, we recommend that you format and dispose of the computer hard drive and any other storage media you used.

In particular, hard drives retain data after formatting which may be visible to a digital forensics team and flash media (USB sticks, memory cards and SSD drives) retain data even after a secure erasure. If you used flash media to store sensitive data, it is important to destroy the media.

If you do this and are a high-risk source you should make sure there are no traces of the clean-up, since such traces themselves may draw suspicion.

4. If you face legal action

If a legal action is brought against you as a result of your submission, there are organisations that may help you. The Courage Foundation is an international organisation dedicated to the protection of journalistic sources. You can find more details at https://www.couragefound.org.

Submit documents to WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks publishes documents of political or historical importance that are censored or otherwise suppressed. We specialise in strategic global publishing and large archives.

The following is the address of our secure site where you can anonymously upload your documents to WikiLeaks editors. You can only access this submissions system through Tor. (See our Tor tab for more information.) We also advise you to read our tips for sources before submitting.

wlupld3ptjvsgwqw.onion

Copy this address into your Tor browser. Advanced users, if they wish, can also add a further layer of encryption to their submission using our public PGP key.

If you cannot use Tor, or your submission is very large, or you have specific requirements, WikiLeaks provides several alternative methods. Contact us to discuss how to proceed.

The SourceAmerica Tapes

Today, 16 November 2015 8:30 am EST, WikiLeaks publishes the 30 hours of secret tapes and transcripts at the heart of the AbilityOne/SourceAmerica scandal.

Thirteen Presidential Appointees (ten Obama, three Bush) are embroiled in a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal being probed by the US Department of Justice and four Inspector Generals. The appointees oversee the federal government's $3billion a year "AbilityOne" program which is meant to pay for the employment of more than 50,000 disabled people--the largest such program in the United States. Most of that money, $2.3 billion a year, is funneled through the non-profit SourceAmerica to more than 1000 other designated partner organizations. This subsidised disabled labour is then placed (for a fee) with government and industry. Most of the labour is pushed to the military sector, including the DoD, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin & Boeing--who are also "patrons" of SourceAmerica. It is alleged that nearly half of the $2.3billion a year does not go to the severely disabled, but is rorted by pushing the money to corruptly favoured placement organisations that recruit the able bodied or the mildly disabled instead of the mandated 75% severely disabled. The result is billions in tax payer funded labour subsidies and increased profits for the placement organizations.

The 26 tapes are recorded conversations between Jean Robinson (Lead Counsel of SourceAmerica) and Ruben Lopez (CEO of Bona Fide Conglomerate Inc., one of the placement organizations) that discuss the alleged corruption.

Highlights / Synopsis

Page/Line

Remarks

Scheduling next call

16/25

Jean Robinson recounts Jim Barone bringing in "best friend"

23/8 – 24/19

Robert Turner "independent advisor". After a while, Turner started an "independent veteran-owned disabled business"
and partners with AbilityOne. There is a big meeting where it is announced to AbilityOne members that the new business
is established.

29/2 – 29/10

She says it is one "hell of a conflict". Jean Robinson tells Ruben Lopez about her discussion w/ Turner about filing
a "conflict of interest form". She discovers Turner has three different companies benefiting from awards given by
AbilityOne, while he continues to act as an "independent advisor" to AbilityOne. AbilityOne attempts to "clean"
Robert Turners company.

32/6 – 32/22

Jean Robinson explains she was a general counsel for Goodwill and the owner of Goodwill was "voting against" other
bids, being a member of the board.

32 – 33

Jim Gibbons (Goodwill) is given competitors business plans.

43/12 - 48/25

Jean Robinson describes AbilityOne setting up "top-secret clearance" all other CRPs must meet before bidding on
select contracts from the government worth "$500 million dollars". AbilityOne selects only two companies
"PRIDE/ServiceSource" for these projects, but the government doesn't require these clearances from AbilityOne. They
have their own method to approve contracts. As a result, all large contracts are automatically awarded to either PRIDE
or ServiceSource while AbilityOne says "we wish more people were eligible".

49/2 – 49/5

AbilityOne "positions them and their offshoot companies, their subsidiary companies…to get these big, big ass
projects that are coming on line."

55/10 – 55/16

Martin Williams is "buddy-buddy" with Mitchell Tomlinson (Peckham) "which is our number one revenue source, and,
you know, keeping them happy is important."

63/17 – 64/4

Jean Robinson explains the new B1 method is supposed to be revised "but all they did was change the name"

65/8 – 65/24

Jean Robinson explains what a "fall guy" is. "if an arbitrator on the outside decides we did blow it, they then can point"

71/13 – 73/25

Jean Robinson and Ruben Lopez discuss the contract in Puerto Rico. She says Ruben Lopez (Bona Fide) did not get the award
because of "testosterone".

78/25

Martin Williams's objective is just to pound you into the ground.

84/22 – 85/2

Jean Robinson says the B1 process is only "pretending there's been revisions"

96/17 – 104/19

Jean Robinson discusses MJ Willard and the problems caused by her complaints.

105/19 – 107/14

Melphine Evans kicked off the board for trying "to do the right thing". It turns out she has a family connection to a
CRP. Discusses why Ruben Lopez (Bona Fide) doesn’t get awards. Discusses the federal investigation, and the resignation
of John Huggins.

130/3 – 135/17

Jean Robinson reads the resignation letter John Huggins sent to her; issues such as "staff not cooperating with legal
advice" and objections to sexual relationships.

Where: Phone

Highlights / Synopsis

Page/Line

Remarks

Jean Robinson discusses PRIDE issues

3/19

Jean Robinson drafts a letter which Robert Turner refused to send suggesting the US Ability Commission suspend
"all future project allocations to PRIDE" until they verify they aren't in violation of the AbilityOne program's
rules or regulations.

PRIDE was on probation and disallowed from bidding on projects, "but everybody bent the rules a hundred times to keep them from being out"

11/18

"No CRP has ever screwed up NASA the way they (PRIDE) did"

18/11 – 20/25

Jean Robinson describes when Carol Lowman (previously on the commission; now in the board) was brought in
to call her friends. She works with "high-ranking" people to save the government contract (Fort Rucker) to be
given to AbilityOne. "I think in her heart of hearts she doesn't know that she crawled in bed with the devils".
She says "they were just buying time and waiting for PRIDE to, you know, be able to compete again and then
they could."

23/3

Jean Robinson tells Ruben Lopez if someone went to AbilityOne tomorrow and said "I'd like to take a look
at how you guys have awarded and how you're dealing with your top 10 or 20 agencies – that would pretty much
uncover a bunch of crap".

23/24

Jean Robinson explains to Ruben Lopez she has a list of questions "OIG Conflict Discussion Questions"
which would be difficult to answer in AbilityOne. One question is so dead-on-subject that "That one got me shot".

28/7

In one suggested question Jean Robinson tries to understand why NISH (SourceAmerica) pays for NCSE expenses.
"They're supposed to be the conscience of SourceAmerica and yet we pay for them to fly there and we pay for them
to meet before our board meeting. We give them staff. We resource them with staff. We pay their expenses. They
play golf and then they stay over."

36/5

Jean Robinson describes the conflict of interest behind "the audit committee". So if that's headed by the CRPs
that are participating in the program, you know, come on.

38 – 41

Jean Robinson describes how Jim Barone "stacked the board" and changed how the board elects members

42/11 – 42/16

After Robert Turner's resignation "they feel like they're pretty clean and sanitized now, but they're not."

45/5 – 45/24

Jean Robinson talks about the former board chair Gregory Bender and why he resigned. He "put in writing that
the reason he resigned is because he was doing the same that PRIDE" was doing, namely, counting "temporary labor"
workers into their numbers to make them look like they benefit more handicapped workers

46/1 – 46/11

Jean Robinson talks about a whistle-blower who "said that contracts were being steered to him by select NISH
staff. Gregory Bender tried to influence other staff members "by writing that infamous what we call the SHAM email…
where he says the B-1 – literally in his words, the B-1 process is a sham"

47 – 48

Jean Robinson again describes Goodwill's Jim Gibbons fighting for a $7 million contract, not letting another
CRP to bid without a business plan and then stealing the business plan, "it just would have been competition".

51/5 – 51/15

Jean Robinson describes the real evaluation process. "Even if the evaluation committee that looks at projects
for people…., the executive director, that one person has all the power in his or her hands… because they can say,
to hell with what the evaluation and review committee came up with, I'm not going to give it to Bona Fide, I'm
going to give it to CRP X."

53/2 – 53/8

The overall scheme is "who's kind of in bed with whom and the conflicts that they're trying to do". They try
"to steer enough contracts to agencies that you are chummy with, and then when you leave the employ of
SourceAmerica you go to work for those agencies."

58 – 59

Jim Barone rule change is referred to as "incestuous" board.

60/19 – 60/23

Jean Robinson tells Ruben Lopez to instruct the investigation team: "if they investigate all of the
connections between Bob Chamberlin and PRIDE and Bob Chamberlin and Michael Ziegler, they will hit some pay dirt"

64/20 – 65/5

Jean Robinson explains Robert Turner sent a group of people to investigate the allegations against PRIDE.
"They go down, they write up a report, they find even more shit that what we had allegations for, but they
try to…sanitize it." As a result, the internal control auditor "resigned over that whole thing."

66/11 – 66/13

Jean Robinson: "PRIDE is a scumbag organization that we keep covering up for, and I don’t know why"